Ruben Amorim tried to explain his emotional post-match remarks following Man Utd’s shock EFL Cup exit to Grimsby, but in so doing revealed himself to be a tortured soul
Ruben Amorin breezed into the media room at Manchester United’s training ground just after 1pm on Friday, seemingly without a care in the world. With a flash of that megawatt smile, a cheery “Hi guys!” and a wink towards the assembled film cameras, Amorim did not carry the air of a manager in the midst of a full-blown crisis.
But after United’s humiliating EFL Cup exit to League Two Grimsby, on the back of a solitary point from their opening two Premier League games, Amorin finds himself in embattled mode. Less than 48 hours earlier, a bedraggled Amorim, his usually slick curls matted from the teeming Lincolnshire rain, cut a tortured soul as he tried to make sense of his side’s capitulation.
He spoke candidly and with raw emotion, admitting he was “shocked” by what he had witnessed from his players, who he claimed had “spoken really loudly about what they want”.
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Yet time is a great healer and, a couple of days on from his impassioned pitchside interview at Blundell Park, Amorim tried to qualify his remarks, but succeeded only in confirming himself as a conflicted figure, which does not bode well for the immediate battles ahead that will decide his fate.
After Saturday’s must-win Old Trafford clash with Burnley, United’s two games after the international break are at Manchester City and at home to Chelsea. Failure to navigate those fixtures with a semblance of positivity and progress could see Amorim’s reign come to an end in under a year.
Certainly, as he tried to explain his loaded comments in the immediate aftermath of the Grimsby debacle, Amorim posed more questions than answers about whether he is the right man to try to haul United out of their current slumber and back to competing for the big prizes.
Asked if the EFL Cup exit, the first time United had lost to a fourth tier side in the competition, was down to the wrong attitude from the players, Amorim said: “I don’t know what happened.”
Similarly, when pushed on what effect his blunt comments could have on his players, Amorim was his usual candid self, perhaps too honest for his own good, when addressing the fall-out from what he said.
“I’m really honest about what I see,” said Amorim. “I cannot say a different thing. You watched the same game that I watched, so I’m not going to change the narrative or control the narrative.
“It is what it is and I’m just trying to be honest with you guys and with the players. There’s no excuse, because I didn’t put just 11 players out that hadn’t played so much.
“They all played in pre-season, it wasn’t just guys from the academy or a mix. I could play that team in the next game. So that’s the frustration of a coach and why it’s so hard [to accept].”
Amorim’s admission that he sometimes wants to quit was delivered tongue in cheek, but before he finished his media duties, he provided further compelling insight into his complex make-up.
Asked who has to talk him out of feeling like quitting after a defeat, Amorim said: “Myself, I just need 10 minutes with myself. I don’t need anyone, but I’m going to be like that.
“When you say I want to quit, is that it? I want to quit, I don’t love the players, I sometimes hate my kids, so I’m going to be like that. That’s not going to change. Sometimes it’s a good thing, sometimes it’s a funny thing and I’m going to suffer. We just need to win some games.”
A win is what Amorim desperately needs today. Otherwise his suffering and self-recrimination will only increase and nudge him closer to the sack.
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